Coach Mike Sullivan thanked Pittsburgh for all of the support at the beginning of his speech.

“The one thing I’ve learned is this is one crazy sports town,” he said. “Even more crazy, this is one crazy hockey town!”

He congratulated players on their fourth Stanley Cup Championship.

“This is a group that’s been through a lot this year, the challenges they’ve overcome to become the best hockey team in the world, we couldn’t be more proud of them,” Coach Sullivan said.

Sidney Crosby was next on stage, asked how it felt to win his second Stanley Cup for Pittsburgh.

“It means a lot. It’s exactly how I remember it, I think it’s even bigger this time. You guys are what make it so special to play here. It’s a special town. Obviously, this group of guys, we wanted it bad. We were disappointed in Game 5 we didn’t get it done, it wasn’t a happy plane going to San Jose. But we knew we had to get it back here,” he said.

Thousands of people were expected to attend the first Stanley Cup parade since 2009. Some began lining up along the route Tuesday night.